Walter King was the son of Lizzie Wolfe and father of Chief Clarence King, and he worked to research and pass down the history and traditions of the Ottawa.

King was described as one who “rambled around” and “traveled and tramped extensively in his search for history of his tribe.” In these efforts, King augmented Ottawa oral traditions with his own research. King traveled from California to Canada and Kansas to Michigan to visit Oklahoma Ottawas scattered across the nation, consult archival materials, meet with members of other Ottawa communities, and talk with “old people…that knew our ways.”

In addition to forging tribal connections, Walter established relationships with academics interested in Ottawa history. In the 1950s, Walter published some of his research in the journal Northwest Ohio Quarterly. He authored an article on the meaning of the name Pontiac drawn from his knowledge of Anishinaabemowin and published a Nanabozho story told to him by his great-grandmother Eliza Wolf when he was a child. Through his writings, Walter recorded many memories, traditions, and historical episodes that would otherwise have been lost.